A refrigerator may discharge cold air generated by a refrigeration cycle that may include a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, an evaporator, and the like to lower a temperature inside the refrigerator for freezing or refrigerating food or the like stored in the refrigerator.
An example cooling system of a refrigerator may include a compressor, a condenser, an expansion device, and an evaporator.
According to this example cooling system, a cooling cycle may be accomplished in such a manner that a refrigerant compressed into a high-temperature and high-pressure gaseous state by the compressor is sent to the expansion device after being condensed by the condenser. Next, the refrigerant is expanded by the expansion device and changed into a low-temperature and low-pressure gaseous state and is sent to the compressor again after being heat-exchanged with outside air by the evaporator.
Recently, a cooling system with two evaporators installed in a refrigerator has been used.
This cooling system may include a compressor, a condenser, a three-way valve, two expansion devices, and two evaporators.
The three-way valve may have a structure in which a refrigerant pipe is installed in two branches thereof and the expansion device and the evaporator are respectively installed in two bifurcations branched from a branch pipe.
In such a cooling system, the cooling cycle may be performed such that refrigerant passing through the compressor and the condenser is introduced into the evaporator and one or the other side of the expansion device by switching the three-way valve, and then the refrigerant is repeatedly introduced into the compressor after being heat-exchanged with air in each evaporator into which the refrigerant is introduced.
According to this, when the three-way valve is switched so that the refrigerant passing through the compressor and the condenser is introduced into an evaporator provided for cooling a refrigerating compartment, the refrigerating compartment is cooled, and when the three-way valve is switched so that the refrigerant passing through the compressor and the condenser is introduced into an evaporator provided for cooling a freezing compartment, the freezing compartment is cooled.
That is, cooling for the refrigerating compartment and cooling for the freezing compartment are alternately performed in accordance with the switching of the three-way valve.
Since a refrigerator having the above-described cooling system cannot simultaneously perform the cooling for the refrigerating compartment and the cooling for the freezing compartment due to characteristics thereof, a cooling operation is typically performed by repeating a pattern in which the cooling for the refrigerating compartment is performed to lower a temperature of the refrigerating compartment to a predetermined temperature, the cooling for the freezing compartment is performed to lower a temperature of the freezing compartment to a predetermined temperature, and then the cooling for the refrigerating compartment is performed again.
During such a cooling process, the cooling for the refrigerating compartment may be stopped while the freezing compartment is being cooled such that the temperature of the refrigerating compartment is increased.
For example, a pattern may be performed in which cooling is performed so that the temperature of the refrigerating compartment becomes somewhat lower than a set temperature while the refrigerating compartment is being cooled, the temperature of the refrigerating compartment rises above the set temperature while the freezing compartment is being cooled, and then the cooling is performed so that the temperature of the refrigerating compartment becomes lower than the set temperature again while the refrigerating compartment is being cooled.
In the example cooling operation of the refrigerator as described above, a large temperature deviation may occur between a start of the cooling for the refrigerating compartment and an end of the cooling for the refrigerating compartment, which may result in a large deviation between the set temperature of the refrigerating compartment and an actual temperature thereof. In some examples, it may be difficult to effectively maintain freshness of stored goods stored in the refrigerating compartment.